8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL November 2, 2016
St. Clairs celebrate 60
years together
N
orman and Beverly St. Clair of
Drain, Oregon were married Nov.
10, 1956 in Glendale, Oregon. Norman
was employed in the timber indus-
try, cutting and heli-logging. Beverly
worked as a housewife, for the state
tree farm and in convenience stores.
They enjoy gardening, visiting with
family, and going to garage sales. Their
children are Steven (Ronda) St. Clair
of Roseburg, Pam (Jack) Dailey of
How to snip some
stems and have new
plants in spring
Reedsport, Greg (Cindy) St. Clair of
Drain, Lisa (Mike Carpenter) St. Clair
of Cottage Grove, and Ashley (Aaron)
Kephart of Cottage Grove. The couple
also has 14 grandchildren, nine great-
grandchildren, and step-grandchildren
that consider them grandpa and grand-
ma, too.
They will celebrate their marriage of 60
years with family and friends.
BY KYM POKORNY
OSU Extension Service
S
nipping some cuttings
from the garden will pro-
duce your own private nursery
of plants by spring.
Whether you plant the results
of your “snip and stick” project
or give them away, propagating
by cuttings can be a rewarding
process.
Although some sources of in-
formation can be intimidating,
Neil Bell, a horticulturist for
Oregon State University Exten-
sion Service, has good news.
“I do lots of them at home,” he
said. “I don’t use a greenhouse
or even bottom heat. What that
means is that the average gar-
dener can propagate their own
plants with nothing more than a
tray, a decent medium, a bit of
rooting hormone and a place to
keep them out of the way.”
Greenhouses are advanta-
geous, but not necessary. Using
bottom heat can help as well if
you’ve got room in the house to
set up a system. But Bell keeps
his trays of cuttings outside in a
sheltered area and has reason-
able success.
Not all cuttings will “take”
and produce roots, he said, but
enough will to make it worth
the attempt. Up to 100 to 125
cuttings can fi t in one tray, so if
you’ve never propagated by cut-
tings, try one or two trays and
you’re bound to get some plants
out of your efforts.
“There’s no need to compli-
cate it,” he said. “Even if you
end up with 10 percent rooting,
you’ve succeeded and most of
R ENTALS
Continued from page 1A
While it’s diffi cult to fi nd data
to pinpoint the vacancy rate in
Cottage Grove, many believe
that the number here is even
lower. Mike Fleck, director of
Community Sharing in Cottage
Grove, said that the agency can
frequently green-light funding
help for families in search of
an affordable place to rent, but
these families are often unable
to fi nd a place to live.
A rebounding economy has
meant several new hires at
South Lane School District,
which in turn means that many
new school employees are un-
dertaking the rental search.
“Most of them are new to the
area and want to wait to buy
something, so they check out
rentals fi rst,” said Sherry Du-
erst-Higgins, a member of the
South Lane School Board in ad-
dition to a realtor with Remax.
“A lot of times they can’t fi nd
anything here and end up look-
ing in Eugene and Springfi eld,
which is probably where they’ll
stay once they fi nd a place.”
Duerst-Higgins said she’s
not alone among landlords who
have raised the rent for their
properties in response to high
demand.
“If I get 20 calls a day about a
place, that tells me something,”
she said.
“It’s a great time to be a
landlord,” said another local
property owner. “There’s not
much available, so I’m bombed
with applications. If something
comes open, we advertise it, and
immediately, we fi ll it.”
Still, there is reason to believe
that at least some relief may
be on the horizon for Cottage
Grove’s version of the rental
housing crisis, as housing de-
velopment projects that have
been slow to take shape have
begun to progress in recent
weeks. On Friday, the Sentinel
spoke with Richard Gordon,
who has owned the former Cot-
tage Grove Hospital building in
the Northwest Neighborhood
since 2008 and who, together
with his wife, Nedora, has re-
cently resumed plans to convert
the building into 27 one and
two-bedroom apartments, along
with three 2000 square foot of-
fi ce spaces.
Gordon said he’s almost ready
to present plans to the City for
building permits and hopes to
do so by Dec. 1, once his archi-
tect fi nalizes them. His plans
had been approved before the
Great Recession, but the eco-
nomic dive shelved those plans
for him. Now, Gordon said he
has seven of the apartments al-
ready spoken for.
“We’re happy to be doing this
project again,” he said. “It was
viable back then, and it still is.
We’re excited to be back, and
the demand is greater now.
We’re looking forward to this,
and we think it’s very positive
for Cottage Grove.”
Meanwhile, the City said it
has received word from Hayden
Homes, which steadily built
its Riverwalk development of
starter homes in Cottage Grove
throughout the economic down-
turn, that it wishes to resume its
plan to build 32 cottages in the
lot next to Riverwalk, a project
that had also stalled after its ap-
proval. Its plan calls for mostly
three-bedroom cottages averag-
ing 1064 square feet. Additional
two-bedroom cottages at 880
square feet and one-bedroom
units of 400 square feet are also
planned. The City recently re-
ceived a request from Hayden
Homes for an estimate of the
fees it can expect to pay for the
project, indicating renewed in-
terest.
City Planner Amanda Fergu-
son said the City has also been
informed that Shelter Care,
which works to provide afford-
able housing access locally
among its other missions, may
be closer to receiving the fed-
eral funding that will allow the
human services agency to pro-
ceed with its plan to build over
30 apartment units of varying
size on a lot next to Our Lady
of Perpetual Help Catholic
Church. Shelter Care’s plan for
the development was approved
several years ago, though it had
to resubmit those plans after it
was unable to secure the needed
funds.
Taken together, Ferguson said
that, should those three projects
come to pass, it would repre-
sent by far the most signifi cant
growth in multi-family housing
in Cottage Grove in over a de-
cade.
“We need a variety of options,
and this is a nice range,” Fer-
guson said. “With the planned
construction of the new school
and these projects, we’re going
to be busy.”
As detailed in a recent edition
of the Sentinel, a group calling
itself the Cottage Villages Co-
alition is also moving forward
with plans to bring “tiny homes”
to town to serve those most at
risk of being homeless here. The
group, which will model its ef-
forts on Eugene’s Square One
Villages initiative, will present
its plans to the Cottage Grove
City Council on Nov. 14. Rep-
resentative Sharon Jean said the
group is in search of a property
that can host the project, having
recently found that a vacant lot
behind the City that it was in-
terested in is likely too small, is
zoned for parks use and would
require prohibitive regulation
changes.
Despite its challenges, Jean
said the movement to serve this
at-risk population is growing in
strength everyday.
“This is a population that is
extremely at risk,” she said,
“and it’s people who live here
now. It isn’t strangers that are
going to relocate here expecting
us to house them. They’re good
people going through unfortu-
nate circumstances.”
City Manager Richard Mey-
ers said that these projects could
fi ll a realm of housing that
doesn’t currently exist in Cot-
tage Grove.
“We may see some of this
really start improving, and it’s
very exciting,” he said. Still,
Meyers wondered if the com-
munity could support new arriv-
als in another way.
“If we fi nd in the near future
that we have the housing, I won-
der if we’ll have the jobs to sup-
port them?” he asked.
SENIOR MEALS PROGRAMS
Offering Meals on Wheels and
Cafe 60 at the following locations:
Anyone age 60 and older is served, regardless
of income, suggested donation is $3.
Guests under age 60 are welcome to attend for
$8 per meal.
Creswell Cresview Villa
350 S. 2nd St., Creswell
Noon: Mon., Wed., Fri.
THURSDAY, NOV. 3: Turkey Pasta Salad or
Curried Chicken & Rice Salad
FRIDAY, NOV. 4: Pork Choppie w/Gravy or
Honey Mustard Chicken
MONDAY, NOV. 7: Cowboy Campfi re Stew
Please see STEMS, Page 10A
Friday, November 4th
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, November 5th
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Come
and
t
see wha
we have
for our
raffl e!
THURSDAY, NOV. 3: Salisbury Patty
w/Gravy
FRIDAY, NOV. 4: Tuna Salad 1/2 Sandwich
w/Vegetarian Veg. Soup
TUESDAY, NOV. 8: Breaded Chicken Patty
w/Mayo or Beef Sloppy Joe on a Bun
For more information please contact the Public Works
Department at (541)942-2042 during working hours
of Monday through Friday, 8:00AM to 5:00PM.
The easiest cuttings to take
are shoot tips from strong-grow-
ing twigs. Cut the twig about 3-
4 inches long, which will leave
American Legion Hall • 826 Main Street, CG
Served at 400 Main St., Yoncalla.
(For Douglas County Meals on Wheels eligi-
bility, call 541-440-3677.)
Suggested donation $3.50
Tips for Leaf Placement in Street
✓ Only piles of loose leaves will be picked up
✓ Pile leaves on the street surface near the gutter, keeping gutter
and catch basins free of leaves so storm water is not obstructed
✓ On streets without curbs and gutter, pile the leaves near the street
surface away from ditches
✓ Stack the leaves so that they don’t block bike and traffi c lanes
✓ Leaves should be piled in rows so they do not block the fl ow of
water along the curb and do not encroach on the traffi c lane
✓Do not place leaves in the streets where curbside parking does
not exist. You may bring those leaves to the designated area
outside the Row River Water Treatment Plant at 3300 Row
River Road
✓ Do not place your leaves in plastic bags
✓ Branches will not be picked up
✓ Shrub prunings and blackberry vines will not be picked up
✓ Do not include rocks, metal or other debris in your leaf pile
✓ Lawn clippings will not be picked up
Fill tray with perlite-peat
moss mixture.
6th Annual
Christmas Bazaar
or Chicken Lo Mein
TUESDAY, NOV. 8 Breaded Baked Fish/Tar-
tar Sc or Chicken Patty w/Dijon Sc
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9: Hot Turkey Sand-
wich or Hot Meatloaf Sandwich
The City of Cottage Grove Public Works Department will be
conducting its annual Leaf Pickup during the following weeks:
November 14 th -18 th • December 5 th - 9 th • December 19 th -23 rd
Start with a healthy plant.
Those stressed by disease, pests
or drought will have a high fail-
ure rate.
Humane Society of Cottage Grove’s
Drain/Yoncalla area
Cottage Grove Riverview Terrace
925 W. Main St., Cottage Grove
Noon: Tues., Wed., Thurs.
the time you can do far better.”
This list of possible plants to
propagate from hardwood cut-
tings in October and Novem-
ber is long, but some common
ones include rosemary, rhodo-
dendron, hydrangeas, fl owering
currant (Ribes), Oregon grape
(Mahonia aquifolium), mock
orange (Philadelphus), redtwig
dogwood (Cornus sericea), rock
rose (Cistus), manzanita (Arcto-
staphylos), Hebe, Cotoneaster,
barberry (Berberis) and Pyr-
acantha. If you grow half-hardy
shrubs like salvia, cuttings taken
now are great assurance against
winter injury.
Bell’s recommendations for
taking hardwood cuttings:
You’ll need: clean small clip-
pers (the sharper the better),
clean 3- to 4-inch deep tray,
rooting hormone, tight-fi tting
gloves to protect hands against
prickles and hormone, and a
soilless mixture of 80 percent
perlite and 20 percent peat
moss. If you’ve used the tray be-
fore, wash with soap and water
or a mild bleach solution and let
them dry thoroughly.
Collectibles
Decorations
Christmas Cards
Lights
and Much More
All Proceeds Help Animals in Our Community.
27th Annual Cottage Grove Emblem Club #269
Craft Fair
& Flea Market
Cottage Grove Elks Lodge
755 N. River Rd
e
k
Now
Ba le! Reserve Your Table
a
S
To reserve tables call Alair at 541-942-2871
Set up Fri. 4-6 PM & Sat. 7-9AM
Emblem Club #269 is a Nonprofit Organization Dedicated
to helping the Elks and Our Community.